The Abboth Challenge
by Erika Extasy
Summary: A new region called Abboth is the setting of adventure for a young Max, just starting his Pokemon adventure,and Ash. But will unspoken word and secret feelings make their adventure less that it's cracked up to be? Alfshipping, Ash/Max.
1. Chapter 1

"Max, wake up, today's the big day, Kiddo." Max's mother said, knocking on her son's bedroom door.

Max didn't have to be told twice, today was the big day, today he turned 10, and could finally become a trainer and start his journey; but, more importantly, he could finally battle Ash. That's what he had been looking forward to the most.

Max jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. He slid out his pajamas and into the shower. He made short work of the shower, not wanting to waist a second; otherwise all the good pokemon might be gone. He dried himself off and tossed the wet towel onto the floor, his mom shouldn't be too mad, it was his birthday after all. He walked out of the bathroom naked, he never bothered taking clothes in with him, he had his own bathroom, and it was at the back of the house with his room, so no one ever saw him.

"Oh, Max, you better-" His Mom started, hearing him in the hallway.

"Yea, I'll be right there Mom." Max said, cutting her off. He walked into his room, and to his dresser, he bent down to the bottom of his dresser, his underwear and sock drawer.

"Nice view, Maxxie." Max heard a voice from behind him, and spun quickly around on his heels, surprised. He was shocked to see Ash Ketchum and Pikachu sitting on his bed, so shocked, in fact, that he forgot he was still completely naked, as he ran over to give Ash a hug.

Ash wrapped his arms around the boy hugging him, only the least bit awkwardly.

"ASH! It's been forever!"

"Uhhh, Max…."

"Yea, Ash."

"Umm, you're naked, ya know."

Max quickly covered himself and blushed deeply.

"Don't worry." Ash said, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

Max walked back over to his dresser, and reached back into the bottom drawer. When he was sure Max was looking in his dresser, Ash slightly moved his hat so he could see. He kicked himself for being such a perv, but Marveled at how Max had grown in the past two years.

"Okay, you can look now." Max said when he had a pair of underpants on.

Ash moved his hat, even though he'd already been looking. Max pulled out a shirt and a pair of pants out of another drawer, and started to put them on.

"No, wait, Max." Ash stopped him.

"Huh, why?"

"Just wait a minute, come here."

Max set him garments on top of his dresser and walked over in front of Ash. Ash looked at Max, taking n all the changes that Max had gone through since they last met. He was a good three inches taller, but he wasn't so skinny, like he was back then. He wasn't fat, not at all, but he was a little chubbier, to the point of being really cute, in Ash's mind. Max turned red, having his friend look at him like this.

"What are you doing?" Max uncomfortably shuffled his feet.

"Okay, you can dress now; I was just looking at how much you've changed."

"Oh. Have I?" Max asked, walking back to his dresser and sliding his clothes on.

"Yea, you have, you're a lot taller now, but we've gotta get in the kitchen, or your mom's gonna kill us."

Ash stood up off the bed and the two of them walked in the kitchen, where Max's mother was waiting with his gifts. They stepped into the room, she yelled "Happy Birthday" to Max, and told him to hurry and open his presents, or he'd be late.

First Max opened the boxes that were from his Mother. One contained a really cool trainer's backpack with pockets for everything from extra clothing, to pokeballs, to medicine, and even had a strap he could hook his sleeping bag too.

The next present was, coincidently, a sleeping bag. It was weather resistant on the outside, but a soft fleece on the inside. She also gave him a pair of really nice cargo pants for his journey; it would be far too cold for shorts. His aunt had sent him a pull over for the cold weather, and some first aid medicine and gauze, all of which he put in its proper place in his back pack.

He picked up a box that was from Ash, and opened it. Ash had given him quite a few pokeballs and a new pair of shoes for the journey.

Max looked around, but didn't see any presents from his dad.

"Hey, Mom, didn't Dad get me anything? Where is he, anyway?" Max said with a sad look on his face.

"Oh, sweetie, your dad is going to be waiting for you at the lab, of course he got you something!"

Max brightened up, pulled on his new shoes, and stood to leave. He swung his new backpack over his shoulder and started for the door, Ash and his mother following.

When they arrived at Professor Birch's lab, it was hardly crowded. Max began to worry. But his mother assured him they weren't too late, it was just a small town. Max saw his father and ran up to him. His father picked him up into a hug.

"Happy birthday, Son, are you ready to get your pokemon?"

"Yea!"

Max and his dad walked inside the lab, while his mom and Ash stood outside.

"Are you sure you wanna do this, Ash?"

"Of course, it'll be a blast."

Five minutes past and Max bounced back outside, holding his pokeball high in the air.

"Which did you get, Max?" Ash asked, almost as excited as Max was.

"I got a Mudkip!" He said, and started to release it from the ball, but felt his father's hand on his shoulder.

"Not so fast, Kiddo, Professor Birch has something to ask you."

"Yes," Birch started, appearing behind Max's father, "With your father being the gym leader, I know you were raised around pokemon, so I know you have potential, especially from what Ash has told me about you when you were with him. That leads me to this question, there's a new region nearby that we have recently made alliance with. This region is called Abboth. It's a lot different from us here, but I think you can handle it. What do you think?"

"I think that would be awesome!" Max yelled, excited beyond belief.

"I know he can handle it if I'm there!" Ash said.

"Ash, are you serious? Are you-"

"Yep, I figured I'd come along with you on your pokemon journey. If you'd have me, that is."

"I'd love to have you as a companion, Ash!"

Ash and Max started talking about how excited they were with exploring a new land, while Max's mom was questioning Professor Birch about how safe it was. After all of the excitement and questioning calmed down, Max walked over to his parents.

"Do I have everything?"

Max knew this was going to happen, his Mom burst into tears and hugged him, and his dad was saying how proud he was. He hugged his mom, and told her not to be worried, and smiled at his dad. His mom realeased him, and he stepped in front of his dad.

"When I come back, I'll be grown up, right Dad?"

"That's right, Son." His father beamed with pride, and if Max didn't know better, he looked like he was about to cry.

"Well, then," Max shuffled his feet again, "will you put me on your shoulders one last time, before I'm to big?"

Max knew his father was tearing up then, as he was lifted and set on his shoulders. Max began to tear up himself. He was going to miss his family, and his home town so bad, but he couldn't miss this, not his rite of passage. He was set back on the ground, and he dried his eyes.

"I'm so proud of you, Max."

"Thanks, Dad, but the boat leaves soon, to Abboth, so we better get going." Max hugged his parents again, and turned around, starting to walk toward Ash.

"You're forgetting your present, Max."

Max turned back around and walked over to his father, who handed him a wrapped box.

Max, joyfully, unwrapped the box, and opened it, finding it filled to the top with pokeballs."

"Thanks, Dad!" Max said, pulling his father into another hug."

"You're welcome, Max. Take care of yourself, out there. We wouldn't want your mom to worry."

"I will, Dad."

Max turned to see that his mom was talking to Ash, he walked over and asked what they were talking about.

"Oh, I was just telling Ash to look after you, make sure eat right, shower, and change your socks and underwear."

"Mom….!" Max groaned, embarrassed.

His mom hugged him again, before turning back to Ash.

"And, Max has been known to get into trouble, but you know that, you've traveled with him before. But, keep him out of trouble, and, if he's acting up, he's ten, they do that, don't be afraid to spank him, you have my permission."

This made both Ash, and Max go red, so they took this opportunity to take their leave.

"We don't wanna miss the ferry." Ash said, both of them turning around, and heading down the road.

"Bye, Max, I love you, Honey!"

Max's mother waved and cried, and her husband put his arms around her, and pulled her close.

"He's growing up, now."

"I know."

The bay came into sight, along with the ferry, and Max began to pick up his pace. He had started to all out sprint when something stumbled out into the path in front of him. He jumped to his right to avoid hitting whatever had stumbled into the path. He lost his balance and fell, face first, into the bushes.

"Max, are you okay?" Ash asked, dashing over to where Max fell.

"Yea, I'm fine. What got in my way, though?"

Ash and Max both looked back on the path, a pokemon with an alien-like appearance and red hair stood in the path.

"It's a Ralts." Ash started.

"Ralts, Ralts!" The Ralts said its own name, happily, and walked over to hug Max. Max looked at the pokemon embracing his leg, and a realization washed over him.

"Ralts?"

The pokemon looked up at him.

"Are you the Ralts I met back then?"

The Ralts smiled and nodded its head.

Max picked the pokemon up and pulled it into a hug.

"Did you come all this way to find me?"

The pokemon nodded again.

"Would you like to come with me, now that I can start my journey"

"Ralts!" Max took that as a yes, and pulled one of the pokeballs hid dad had given him out of his backpack. The Ralts pressed the button on the ball, releasing the beam of red light, and let himself be encaptured in it. The beam pulled the Ralts in the ball, and it didn't even struggle.

Max had tears in his eyes again when he connected the ball to his belt.

Wordlessly, he continued walking to the ferry, Ash and Pikachu close behind.

* * *

NOTE: Sorry for the short chapter. I'll try to update soon.

And remember: Reviews are welcome. And flames are accepted. Either way, you're reading my shit.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but I'd be damned rich if I did.

The water passed by the ferry in white waves. Max noticed this when he stuck his head over the side of the boat and lost the breakfast he'd eaten with Ash on the way to the port. It had been a while since Max had been on a ship, and then the ship didn't rock back and forth as much as the ferry he was on now. Ash walked up beside him and started rubbing his back.

"Feel any better now, Max?"

"No. How long before we make it to Abboth?"

"Shouldn't be too long, just look." Ash pointed to the horizon, and Max's face lit up when he saw the new land, and their new adventure peeking into view.

"Professor Birch told me to call him when we were about to Abboth for further instructions. I'm going to go call him now, okay?"

"Okay, I'm just going to stay here, just in case."

* * *

The ferry pulled up to the dock, and people started filing off. Ash stood on the deck of the ferry while Max threw up into the ocean one last time before pulling himself up to his feet and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Ash chuckled and put his arm over Max's shoulders and led him to the ramp.

"Birch said to meet with a scientist named Professor Luanne Magnolia, her lab is just about half of a mile from here, and she'll give us all we need to know about Abboth."

"Okay, let's get started, then, I can't wait to get my first badge!"

"Easy there, tiger. You haven't even had your first match yet, Kid."

"Then, battle me, now!"

"Max, I don't have any pokemon with me that are as young as your Treeko and Ralts. You'll find someone to battle soon, though, I know it."

"Did I hear someone was looking for a battle?"

Ash and Max both turned around when they heard the voice. Behind them, a boy with blond hair stood with a 'devil may care' smirk on his face. Max was excited at the thought of his first battle.

"Yea, I'm Max. Today's my birthday, and I just got my first pokemon, well, my first two. I haven't battled yet, so I'm not sure how well I'll do."

"Really? I just got my pokemon today too. I've been looking for someone to battle. My name's Colin, by the way." The boy smiled and reached to his waist, brought up a pokeball and expanded it, looking at Max, questionably.

Max pulled a pokeball from his belt in agreement. He wore the biggest grin of his life when he tossed the pokeball onto the grass in front of him.

"Go Ralts!" In a flash of light, the alien-looking pokemon was released.

"A Ralts, huh, impressive. Go Eevee!" Colin released his pokemon onto the grass as well.

"'I guess I'll be the referee in this match." Ash said, walking to, what would be considered, the sidelines of the battle.

"Eevee, tackle it!" Colin said, excited.

"Ralts, dodge it, and use confusion!"

Eevee jumped at Ralts, but Ralts rolled out of the way, and released a blast of purple light, catching the other pokemon dead on. Eevee was knocked back and rolled onto it's feet, leaping at the Ralts again, hitting it in the torso. Ralts rolled on the ground, and lie still.

"Ralts! Are you okay?"

"Eevee, tackle it again!"

Eevee jumped into the air and started falling, head-first, at the pokemon on the ground.

"Ralts, no!"

Right as the tackle was about to connect, Ralts shot another confusion. It was too late for Eevee to change direction, and the confusion blast hit it, and hard. The blast sent Eevee flying through the air, it landed on the ground near Colin's feet.

"Eevee is unable to battle, Ralts is the winner, Max wins the battle."

"Good job, Ralts, return!" Max pointed the ball at his pokemon, a red beam shooting out, and surrounding the Ralts; the beam receded, along with the pokemon, back into the ball. Colin did the same for his downed pokemon, before returning his pokeball back to his belt.

"Good battle, Max." Colin said. Max noticed the disappointment in his voice, and walked over to him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Colin, that was a great first battle. You almost had me."

"Thanks, Max."

"You two both handled your Pokemon really well, much better that my first battle, I'll tell you that much." Ash said.

The three boys all started toward the town's pokemon center. They reached the center and walked through the doors. Neither Max, nor Ash was surprised to see a Joy behind the counter.

"Welcome to the Pokemon center of Fallow Town, the first stop off the Ferry in Abboth. I'm Nurse Joy, can I help you?"

"Yea, we just had a battle, and need to heal out pokemon." Colin said.

"Well, then just hand me the balls containing the pokemon."

The boys handed Nurse Joy the balls and took a seat in the lobby as she walked back into the back of the center.

"So," Colin started," Where are you guys from?"

"He's from Kanto, and I'm from Hoenn. What about you?"

"I'm from here, this is my home town of Fallow Town."

"Really? So you must know Professor Luanne Magnolia?"

"Know her, she's my mom."

"Will you take us to the lab, then?"

"Sure, I'd be delighted to." Colin smiled.

Nurse Joy walked back into the lobby and handed the pokeballs back to their owners, smiled and returned to the counter. Colin stood, and waved his hand in a gesture to follow him; Ash and Max stood and walked with him out the door and down the dirt path.

* * *

A grey building came into view and Colin took off into a run, with Ash and Max at his heels. Colin swung open the door of the building and charged in.

"Mom! Mom! I brought friends to see you!"

"Calm down, Colin! Who did you bring?"

"This is Ash, and this is Max."

Max stepped forward and extended his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ma'am. I'm from Hoenn, and-"

"Oh yes, Professor Birch called about you, I'm Professor Magnolia." She said, shaking Max's hand with a smile. "I'm supposed to give you a map and information about Abboth, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am, that would be very nice of you." Max smiled sweetly.

"Well, you're a sweet boy, aren't you? First off, I'd like to give you this." Professor Magnolia reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a pokedex, handing it to Max.

"A pokedex! Thank you, Ma'am!"

"You're very welcome, Max, now, if you'll follow me, I'll tell you more about the area, as well as give you a map of it."

Max and Magnolia walked towards another room, leaving Ash and Colin standing in the foyer.

"So, Colin, you just turn ten as well?"

"Nah, I turned ten last month!" Colin beamed.

"Were you excited to get your first pokemon?"

"Well, I've known this Eevee for a while now, I found it injured, and brought it home. My mom, being the pokemon lover she is, helped me nurse it back to health, she wouldn't let me take it to the center, she told me it would be a good experience. And it was, I love that Eevee like I'm sure you love your Pikachu, otherwise you wouldn't let it go around on your shoulder like that."

Ash smiled at Colin, and looked at is partner on his shoulder.

"You're right; I couldn't ask for a better partner, he's been with me through it all."

The two boys talked until they saw Max return with the professor.

"Ash! I got a map, and the pokedex registered in my name! She said that the next town, Alizaron Town has a gym! We can probably make it by sundown!"

"Not so fast, Max. If you'll look at the map," the professor started, "you have to go through a forest to get there, and if you get lost in that forest, and the sun goes down, you could be stuck in there for days. I advise you find a place to stay for the night."

"Do you know of any place we could stay tonight?" Ash asked.

"Well, there's a guest room in our house, you could stay there if you wanted."

"That would be awesome of you!" Max said.

"That would be nice, thank you Ma'am." Ash said.

* * *

Ash and Max walked up the stairs of Colin's house, to the room the professor pointed them to. Ash opened the door, letting himself and Max into their room for the night. They dropped their bags on the floor, and Ash walked over, and sprawled out on the bed.

"Which one of us is sleeping on the floor? I figured that I would, since it's your birthday."

"I thought we'd both sleep on the bed."

"But it's a twin, it's really small."

"Oh well, you're, pretty much, my best friend. I don't mind."

"Okay, thanks, Max."

Ash stood up from his bed, and walked over to the backpack he'd discarded by the door. He pulled his pajamas out of his back pack. He slid his shirt over his head and his pants from his waist. He replaced them with his pajamas, and tossed Max his out of his back pack.

"Thanks , Ash." Max removed his clothes, and Ash couldn't help but blush slightly at the sight. Ash tossed the blanket back and crawled into the bed.

"Come on, Max, I'm sure you've had quite the day. And, we've got to get an early start tomorrow."

"Yea, I know." Max walked over to the bed, pulled back his side of the blanket, and crawled in next to Ash.

"Have a good birthday, Max?"

"It's been the best. I get my pokemon, and I start my adventure with my best friend. Ash?"

"Yea, Max?"

Max scooted even closer to Ash, and pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks."

"It's no problem, Max. Happy birthday."

Max fell asleep soon after, with his arms still around Ash. The morning came much too soon for Ash, he slept so peacefully in Max's arms, he even dreamt of him and Max sitting in a field, after a hard pokemon battle, eating together on a blanket, spread out in the grass. The alarm went off at the break of dawn, and Max stretched his arms in a yawn, and the lack of embrace woke Ash from his dream, right as he was leaning across the blanket on the grass. Max sat up in bed, and rubbed his eyes.

"Good morning, Ash."

"Good morning, Maxxie." Ash said with a yawn.

"I'm gonna grab a shower before we leave."

"That's probably a good idea, it's a question when the next actual shower you'll have will be. It'll probably be bathing in streams for a few days before the next city. Just remember to put on clothes before coming out this time." Ash smiled at Max. In reality, Ash wished Max would walk out naked again, something about the boy attracted Ash.

"Ha ha, funny, Ash." Max said with sarcasm.

Max walked into the bathroom connected to the guest room. Ash heard a knock on the door, and Colin's voice.

"Hey, you better make your showers quick, we don't have that much hot water, my mother and I have already showered."

"Okay, thanks for the warning, Colin."

Ash walked over to the bathroom door and started to tell Max to hurry with his shower, but was hit with an idea as he opened his mouth. He knocked on the door.

"Max?"

"Yea, Ash?"

"Are you in the shower yet?"

"Not yet, I had to pee."

"Well, there's not much hot water left, Colin and Professor Magnolia already took their showers, do you mind if I take a shower with you so we both get a warm shower?"

"Sure, that's fine, but let me get behind the curtain first."

Max opened the shower curtain, and stepped in, giving Ash an okay. He opened the door and walked in the bathroom, excited to shower with Max, but determined not to let him know it, Max was his best friend, and he didn't want to ruin it. He stripped of his pajamas and stepped into the back of the shower, behind Max. He looked at Max's slender back and shoulders as he ran his hands through his hair. It was tempting for Ash to reach out and grab Max's butt, but he with held the urge and reached for the shampoo instead.

Max was lathering himself clean when Ash had another idea.

"Hey, Max, you want me to get your back for you?"

"Sure, thanks."

Ash took the washcloth from Max and started running it over the young boys back. Max was warm to the touch, and Ash was wondering if he was enjoying it as much as he was. When he had soaped Max's back, Max turned around and let the water run down his back and legs, giving Ash the frontal view he had been waiting for all shower long. Ash looked and looked away quickly, before Max could notice, but he made a mental picture of it, so he could remember later.

"Now switch places with me, so I can get under the water."

Ash had already soaped himself up, and he switched places with Max, letting the water wash over him, rinsing away all of the soap from his body. He reached down and turned the shower knobs off, and pulled the curtain open, stepping out onto the shower mat. He tossed Max a towel and started drying himself. Max stepped out of the tub with the towel around his waist and walked over to where he had laid his clothing. He dropped the towel onto the floor and reached for his underpants. Ash couldn't help himself, he grabbed one edge of his towel and snapped it hard at Max. The corner of his towel was damp, and it cracked hard against Max's tender flesh, leaving a big red welt on his right butt cheek. He shrieked and turned around to look at Ash.

"Ash, you jerk, that hurt." Max whimpered.

"I'm sorry, Max, I couldn't help it." Ash laughed at the semi-pathetic look on Max's young face.

Max poked his lower lip out, and quivered it a bit, tugging at Ash's heart strings, before continuing to dress himself. When both he and Ash were dressed, they walked out, back into the guest room, and picked up their back packs and headed down stairs.

"Thanks for putting us up for the night, Professor."

"You're welcome, boys, would you like some breakfast?"

"No thanks, we'll find something on the way, Max is itching to start to the next city."

"Okay, good luck, Max, have fun on your journey. Be careful, boys."

"Thanks, Ma'am."

Colin accompanied the two boys outside.

"Colin, I have a question to ask."

"Yea, Max?"

"Would you like to join Ash and I on our journey?"

"Thanks, Max, but I'm more of the lone type, I like my time to think. But, I'm sure we'll see each other again, I still have to beat you in a battle."

"Well, you better train your pokemon well, good luck, Colin."

Max extended his hand, and Colin obliged him with a friendly handshake. Max knew that he hadn't seen the last of Colin, as he and Ash turned and walked down the dirt path toward the next city, and Max's first gym challenge.

* * *

Note: Once again, sorry for the short chapter, but it took me three days to write this. I'm very busy lately, working like a dog to pay for my laptop. But, I hope you enjoyed it. I'll try and update soon.

Please, read and review. Or, read and flame, I'll enjoy the attention, either way.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or any characters herein.

NOTE: I know, it's taken me forever, but I work so much now it's not even funny. The good news is I'll be able to buy my laptop soon. Anyway, here's the long awaited update.

-I reserve the right to make up my own variations to moves.-

* * *

"Max, are you sure you know where we are?" Ash asked the boy leading the way through the forest.

"Of course I know where we are, I have the map."

"Well, we've been walking through this forest all day! The sun is starting to set, and I really don't want to be stuck in this forest when it gets dark."

"Don't worry, Ash, We should be right here," Max pointed at a spot on the map, "Oh wait, we should be here."

"Let me see that map." Ash reached for the map and came to a stark realization. "MAX! You're holding the map sideways!"

"I am…..oh! I am." Max rubbed the back of his head and blushed.

Ash turned the map the right way, and gave it, and the forest around them a good look.

"I got it," He said, matter-of-factly, "We need to go this way." He pointed down a path to their right, and the two started to walk down it.

'We'll never make it out of this forest today now.' Ash thought to himself, looking at the map, trying to undo all of Max's damage. Max was walking with his head pointed upwards, looking into the clouds, when he heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. He stopped and looked the direction of the noise. He saw a bush slightly jitter, and leaned over, picking up a rock. He tossed the rock into the bush.

"Aipom!" An Aipom jumped out of the bush and onto the path, rubbing it's head with its tail-hand. It gave Max a ferocious look for hitting it with the rock.

"Uh-oh, Max, you made it mad." Ash said, laughing. "You better call out a pokemon, or it's gonna attack you."

"Yeah, right." Max reached to his belt, and pulled off a pokeball.

"Go, Mudkip. Mud slap!"

Mudkip slung mud in the Aipom's direction. Aipom swatted the mud away with it's tail-hand, and sprung itself towards Mudkip.

"Mudkip, jump!"

Mudkip did as Max said and flung mud, once again, down towards Aipom. The mud hit Aipom in the back of the head, crashing its face into the ground,

Aipom got up, rubbing it's face and jumped once again at Mudkip. It grabbed it with its tail-hand and threw it hard to the ground. Mudkip landed in the soft mud that it had thrown earlier, unscathed.

Mudkip was angry now, at being thrown to the ground, and let a burst of water out from its mouth. The beam of water hit Aipom straight in the face, sending it crashing against a tree.

"I didn't even know Mudkip knew water gun." Max said, stunned

Max reached into his backpack and pulled out an empty pokeball. He threw it at the Aipom, who was struggling to get up. It disappeared in red light, into the ball, and the ball rolled across the ground.

The ball tremored once.

Twice.

Thrice.

Then lie still. Max jumped up and down in excitement. Ash smiled, warmly, remembering his excitement at catching his first pokemon, a caterpea, if he recalled.

"Good job, Max." Ash said to his young companion.

"Thanks, Ash!" Max said, picking the pokeball up from the ground and putting it on his belt, before running over to Mudkip and picking it up in a hug.

"Great job, Mudkip, you were awesome!"

The Mudkip squealed with its praise and returned his trainer's embrace.

"Return, Buddy." Max smiled and called his pokemon back into its ball. Max turned on his heels and started to lead the two out of the forest. He walked with such a pride that Ash couldn't help but look at Pikachu on his shoulder, and laugh. Max didn't care, though. He was proud of himself, and he didn't care who knew it.

* * *

The sun had sunk lower since the battle, and now it was starting to get dark. Max had stopped leading and sunk back to stand close to Ash. He would never admit it, but he was still scared of the dark.

"I think it's about time we stopped for the day, Max."

"Nah, can't we keep going?" Max truthfully couldn't wait to stop and hide in his sleeping bag, but he wouldn't let Ash know that.

"No, we need to stop, while it's still light enough to set up a little camp. We can sleep in that field over there." Ash veered course, and stepped through a few trees into a field. He reached down to his belt and pulled a couple of pokeballs off.

"Mr. Mime, Infernape, come out." The two pokemon appeared in front of him. "Pikachu, join them and go get firewood." The pokemon obeyed Ash, and went off into the woods. Ash and Max pulled their sleeping bags off of their back packs and unrolled them on the ground. Soon, the pokemon had returned with enough wood to start a small fire. The piled it up, and Infernape embered it to blaze.

Ash returned his pokemon into their balls, save Pikachu, who just lie down on Ash's sleeping bad and sprawled out with a sigh.

"Ash, I'm hungry." Max said, as his stomach started to growl.

"Didn't you save any food from lunch?"

"No, I was too hungry."

Ash unzipped his backpack and pulled out the extra sandwich he'd bought back in town. It was supposed to be his dinner, and he thought that Max, the smart kid, would have been smart enough to buy an extra for himself. He tossed the sandwich over to Max.

"I can't take this, it's yours!"

"I insist; I'm not even hungry." Ash lied.

"Are you sure, Ash?"

"Yea." As said with a smile.

Max unwrapped the sandwich and started eating. Meanwhile, Ash pulled out some pokemon food to feed Pikachu. The sun was almost below the tree line now, as Ash zipped himself and Pikachu up in his sleeping bag.

Ash was about to drift into slumber when he heard a slight whimper from the other side of the fire. Max tried to stifle his mouth, but the darkness was creeping over him. It wasn't the normal darkness of the inside of a house; the clouds overhead were rotating and casting shadows from the moon all over everything around him. He let himself whimper again, or, more less, couldn't help himself.

"Max?" Ash knew what the kid was whimpering about.

"Yea, Ash?"

"Are you scared of the dark?"

"A….a…..a little."

Ash sat up and unzipped his sleeping bag.

"Well, come over here."

Max was only too happy to oblige and slid out of his sleeping bag, dashing over beside Ash.

Ash sat up on his knees and grabbed the sleeping bag from Max; he unzipped it, and put its zipper in his sleeping bag's zipper, and zipped them together.

"Thanks, Ash." Max smiled and slid into the sleeping bag. Ash slid in next to him and Pikachu curled up next to them.

"Ash?"

"Yea, Max?"

"I don't know what I would do without you on this journey."

"You would have made it just fine."

"I doubt it."

"Yea, me too." Ash chuckled.

"You jerk." Max laughed with Ash.

The two lie, looking up at the stars. Ash was about to fall asleep when Max broke the silence again.

"Hey, Ash?"

"Yes, Max?" Ash wanted to sleep, and was starting to get slightly annoyed.

"Can I scoot in closer; I think I heard something in the woods."

"It was probably just a crackle in the fire."

"Please?"

"Sure." Ash agreed and Max scooted closer to him and latched on his arm. Ash smiled and finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A Dodrio crowed somewhere off in the distance, waking Ash right as the sun was coming up. He slid out of the sleeping bag carefully, not waking Max, who was snoring heavily next to him. He listened to he morning closely, and heard a waterfall somewhere behind him. He walked to his backpack and pulled out a bottle of all purpose shower wash and a towel and headed to the source of the sound. He emerged through a small patch of trees and was in awe at the sight.

Being alone in nature as long as he had been, training and living, for the year prior to his visit with Max, all alone, save for his pokemon team had given him a deep appreciation for all things in nature. He inhaled the smell of the stream and the morning dew when he felt Pikachu walk up behind him.

"Hey, Buddy. I'm sorry I left you all alone, I was just gonna take a bath in the waterfall."

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed happily, before running and diving into the stream. He resurfaced and shivered, causing Ash to chuckle at his pokemon's antics. Ash looked around for any signs of civilization, and, seeing none, stripped of all of his clothes and walked up to the top of the waterfall. He ran and dived off into the lagoon. He resurfaced and shivered as well, and Pikachu laughed at him.

He swam to the edge and grabbed the shampoo, squirted some in his hand and ran it through his hair and over his body. When his body was used to the water temperature, he swam under the water, rinsing himself off. When he came back up, he looked at Pikachu, and splashed water his way. Pikachu dived under to dodge, surfaced, facing the other way, and used his tail to splash water at his trainer.

The two were too busy splashing each other to notice the boy standing at the edge of the woods. Max looked on at the boy in the stream. He wasn't sure why he was watching Ash like this. If anything, he should think this was sick, but for some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of Ash's body. Max wished he would come back out of the water, he didn't want to see just his torso.

Ash swam to the surface of the water and walked out to where his towel lay on the grass. Max sunk back in the woods, not wanting Ash to see him. He watched Ash drag the towel all over his body, and ran back to the camp site when Ash started back.

"Hey, where'd you go?" Max asked when he saw Ash emerge from the woods wearing only a towel.

"There's a waterfall over that way, I was taking a bath. I left the shampoo over there for you."

"Thanks, Ash." Max jumped up and ran to the waterfall, wanting get an early start on getting out of the forest. He took off his shirt and pants, and looked around before taking off his underwear. He folded his clothes and lay them in the grass. He walked over to the water and put one toe in, and shivered before continuing into the water.

Ash walked quietly to the top of the waterfall and leaned against the tree. He made up the excuse for himself, that he was just keeping an eye on the boy, but he couldn't lie to himself, there was something deeper there. He watched the boy wash himself and swim around. He felt a deep want for the boy. He knew he shouldn't, and he knew he was sick for it, but he'd grown an attachment to the lad when they had traveled together before, and had missed him dearly when he left, and that had driven him to the seclusion the year prior to Max's tenth birthday. While he had grown a lot stronger and closer to his pokemon, he had felt that he had grown further from humanity, which was the reason he had decided to join Max on his journey.

He had been too lost in his thoughts to notice that Max had finished bathing and was heading back to the camp. He hurried back and somehow beat Max there.

"You ready to go, Max?"

"Sure, just let me get dressed."

Max dropped the towel, and didn't seem to notice how wide Ash's eyes got in surprise.

"Getting a little open, there, aren't we?"

"What do you mean?" Max said, pulling up a pair of briefs.

"Just dropping your towel right in front of me like that."

"Ash, we took a shower together, you're my best friend, we shared a sleeping bag last night, and I doubt I have anything to hide from you." Max half way lied. He did have something to hide, but not in that sense.

"That is pretty true," Ash laughed, "We shouldn't have anything to hide from each other." Ash lied, as well.

The boy finished dressing and the two of them rolled up their sleeping bags, packed them, and picked up their things, heading back onto the trail, and towards the next city.

* * *

The trees had started to thin and Ash and Max had picked up heir pace, excited to get out of the forest. Max was overly excited for his first gym battle, and Ash was pretty excited to watch him.

The dirt soon turned into bricks and a sign read "You have reached Alizarin Town, the honey capital of Abboth"

"I can't wait to win my first gym badge."

"Whoa there, Tiger, you can't battle on an empty stomach."

Max agreed and they headed off to a restaurant claiming to have the best honey biscuits in Abboth.

"I guess they weren't lying when they say this is the Honey capital of Abboth." Ash said, holding the door open for Max. He walked up to the counter, and the waitress turned and greeted them.

"Hey, I haven't seen you two around before, are you new?"

"We just came out of the forest." Max said, proudly.

"You came out of Alizarin forest?"

"Yep!"

"Well, that means, your meal is on the house."

Ash and Max smiled at each other and ordered the biggest breakfast they had.

"So, what's a honey biscuit, ma'am?" Max asked the waitress.

"Oh, honey, don't call me ma'am, my name is Adrian, and taste it, then you'll know."

Ash and Max both bit into a biscuit, their faces lighting up at the sensation of sweet perfection on their tongues.

"So, what are you boys doing coming all the way through the forest?"Adrian asked.

"I'm gonna beat the gym leader here, and get my first gym badge."

"You are? That means you'll have to beat my brother, Adric."

"Your brother's the gym leader?"

"Yep, he uses normal type pokemon."

"Is he good?"

"You bet, he is the gym leader, after all." Adrian smiled at Max, pinching his cheek, causing him to blush, and a little jealousy to stir in Ash.

The two finished their free meal, and Max even talked Adrian into giving them some food to go.

"Okay, but only because you're a little cutie." She had said.

Ash, Max, and Pikachu walked together, with full stomachs, to the town's gym.

* * *

The doors to the gym slid open before them, and they stepped into to a large room with a blonde man of about 24 standing in the middle of the gym, He wore a black jacket with a white shirt underneath and a blue jeans. He was playing patty cake with a Clefable, and seemed to have a strong connection with it. He saw the two and turned to face his challenger, still holding the Clefable's hand.

"Are you Adric?" Max asked.

"I am who they say I am. They say I am Adric. So, I must be Adric." He smiled at Max and Ash.

"I'm Max."

"And I'm Ash."

"Are you both going to be challenging me today?"

"No, Sir, only I am." Max stepped forward, but Ash pulled him back.

"Are you sure you want to challenge him now, you may want to train some more."

"No, I've got this, Ash."

"Okay, good luck, Kiddo."

Max walked to the middle of the gym, and extended his hand to Adric.

"No, no, no, not me, shake my Clefable's hand, first."

Max directed is hand to the Clefable who, briefly, took it's and fro, Adric's, and shook Max's, before returning it to Adric's. Adric the extended his hand and shook Max's hand.

"Do you wish to battle me now?"

"Yes, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. We'll begin."

Adric stood without another word and walked to the edge of the pokeball in the center of the gym. Max stood at the opposite edge.

"We will use three Pokemon, no substitutions."

"Who's going to be the referee?"

"We will referee our own match."

"Okay, first off, I choose Ralts!" He tossed a pokeball to the center, it bounced and released it's pokemon, before returning to Max's hand.

"I shall choose. Skitty."

Adric rolled a pokeball to the center; it released a cat like pokemon, and rolled back to Adric.

"Skitty, tackle!" Adric's voice changed, became authoritive.

Skitty ran forward at a high speed towards Raltz.

"Ralts, dodge it."

Ralts twirled in place and easily deflected the Skitty's attack.

"Confusion, Ralts."

The Skitty turned around right in time to get hit with a confusion ray. It was blasted back to the wall of the gym, but landed on it's feet on the wall, and bounced off quickly, bashing it's head into Ralts. It was moving at too high of a speed, and continued, after it hit Ralts, couldn't stick the landing, and flipped, hitting its head on the floor of the gym.

"Both pokemon are unable to battle."

The trainers recalled their pokemon and Max tossed the pokeball containing Aipom.

"Go on out, Sweety." Adric said, and the Clefable by his side walked out to the middle of the gym.

"Aipom, take it down."

"Clefable, double slap." His voice went back to its original, sweet tone.

The Aipom dove at Clefable, but the Clefable back handed it hard, and, with lightning speed, hit it again, and a total of two more time, before it flew across the room, and caught itself on its tail, springing itself back towards the opponent.

"Metronome."

The Clefable wagged it's finger, and suddenly, a burst of water came from nowhere, in the form of a hydro pump, connecting with Aipom, sending it into the wall, hard. The Aipom lie there, not moving.

"Aipom is unable to battle."

Max returned the Aipom to its ball and sent out Mudkip.

"Come on, Mudkip, we can do this. Tackle it!"

Mudkip dashed at Clefable.

"Double Slap."

Clefable backhanded the Mudkip before the tackle could connect, twirled and slapped it with its other hand, and hit it a total of three more times, before it got knocked back, and rolled across the gym floor. Mudkip staggered to its feet, stumbled a little, but regained its composure.

"Water gun, Mudkip!"

Mudkip sent a large burst of water at the Clefable.

"Thunder Punch."

"Thunder Punch?" Ash and Max said in unison, surprised.

Lightning gathered around Clefable's hand, and it dashed down the stream of water, fist first.

"Jump, Mudkip!"

Mudkip jumped high in the air, effectively dodging the punch.

"Hit it." That was all that Adric said, but Clefable kept running and dashed up the gym wall, kicking off and flying through the air, right at Mudkip.

"Mudkip, quick!" That was all Max had time to say before the thunder punch connected with his pokemon. Mudkip was sent flying across the room; it landed on the gym floor, unconscious.

"Mudkip, no!"

"Mudkip is unable to battle. I, Adric, am the winner."

Max recalled his pokemon into the ball and walked to the middle of the gym, looking at the ground. Adric walked into the middle as well, with a smile on his face.

"You battled well, Max."

"But, I lost…"

"But you did well."

"But….I lost…."

Max quickly shook Adric's hand and ran out of the gym, tears falling from his face.

Ash turned to run after him, but Adric was suddenly beside him, stopping him.

"Don't."

"But-"

"Let him cry it out. I was his first loss, wasn't I?"

"Yea."

"I thought so. Just let him cry it out. Give him ten minutes, then find him. He won't lose next time."

"What do you mean?"

Ash's words fell on deaf ears, as Adric was already in the middle of the gym, playing with his Clefable.

* * *

I'm not really sure about Adric. I wrote all of that without reall thinking. I think I may give him a good backstory and make him reoccuring. What do you think. And I don't think the next update will take so long.

Reviews are appreciated. Flames are accepted. Either way, you're reading my shit.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

Ash wandered around Alizarin for what seemed like forever. He decided to return to restaurant to see if Adrian had seen Max anywhere around. The bell above the door ringed when Ash walked in.

"Hey, Sugar, I'm sorry to hear about the little cutie's loss."

"Adric told you?"

"In a way."

"You wouldn't happen to have seen Max, would you?"

"There's a waterfall about a half mile down that way." The waitress gestured towards the East.

"So, he's been through here?"

"You could say that."

"Okay, thanks."

Ash ran out of the door and off toward the waterfall Adrian had pointed to. He burst through the shrubbery and saw Max, about to cross the waterfall on a fallen tree. The water was rushing against the tree, and, ever few moments, the tree would slip a little closer to the edge of the falls.

"Max!" Ash yelled when he saw Max put a foot on the tree and start to step up.

"Ash! I saw a Starly over there, I'm sure I can catch it!"

"Max, do NOT cross that log, it is way too dangerous!"

"No, Ash, I'll be fine." Max stepped up on the log and started to walk across. "I've got good balance."

"Max, get down now!"

Max blatantly ignored Ash and continued crossing the log. In the years Ash had gone without seeing Max, Max had grown considerably. Since he hadn't been on an adventure, Max was no longer skinny as a board, he had a little meat on his bones now, not enough to be considered fat, or even chubby, really, but enough that the small tree he was standing on shifted in the water below him. The water lapped up over the tree and around Max's shoes.

"Max, come back, now!"

Max acted as if he never heard Ash and continued to cross the log that was sinking a little more with each step.

"Max!" No sooner than he yelled again, the log cracked and Max fell into the water and was drug quickly to the edge of the falls.

"Max, no!" Ash, without thinking, dropped Pikachu onto the ground by the river, ran, and dived off the side of the falls down into the lake below. He hit the water with a splash, resurfaced and searched around for Max. He saw him, floating unconscious in the water, and swam over to him. He put Max's arm around his shoulders and swam over to the edge of the lake, and pulled Max up into the grass. He pushed down on Max's sternum, pushing the water up out of his lungs, put his mouth over Max's, and breathed air into his lungs, before repeating the process. After three rounds of CPR, Max coughed up water and sat up, before throwing his arms around Ash.

"Ash! I was so scared, I didn't know, I." Max couldn't talk anymore, he had started crying. Ash shushed Max, and just held him, he let tears fall down his face, silently. Truthfully, he was just as scared as Max was, why else would he have dived from a cliff, without even knowing he would have landed in the water? Pikachu found his was down to where Ash sat, with Max in his arms, but when he saw them, he didn't interrupt, but looked silently on them. It wasn't too long before Ash's and Max's tears were dried, and they just sat there, holding each other.

"I need to go back and train more, on this side of the waterfall, this time." Max got up from Ash's lap and started to walk away, but Ash grabbed his hand before get far. He pulled him back so that Max was facing him.

"Max, I promised your mother that I would I would protect you. And you go off and do something like that?"

"I'm sorry, Ash."

"Jesus, God, Max, you could have drown."

"I know, Ash, and I'm sorry!"

Ash held onto Max's hand and thought for a few seconds.

"Max, I think what you did deserves a punishment, for disobeying me, and for putting yourself in such danger."

"I....I....understand. You were looking out for me, and I didn't listen, and, well, I understand."

"Good, Pikachu?" Ash looked at his pokemon

"Pika?"

"I think you should go into the ball for this one, okay, Pal?"

Pikachu hated the inside of a pokeball, but understood, and nodded.

"Thanks." Ash pointed the only empty pokeball on his belt at Pikachu; a red light surrounded him and he disappeared into the ball.

"Max? I'm going to spank you, okay?"

"Okay." Max looked down, the idea of it really scared him, he knew it was going to hurt, but he knew he deserved it.

Ash reached up and to Max's waistline of his pants. Max quickly blocked his hands,

"Ash! What are you doing?"

"I'm going to spank you, Max, and spankings work best when they are on bare flesh."

"But...but....bu"

"No buts, Max, this is going to hurt, but it's gotta be done."

Max only nodded, and moved his hands. Ash unbuttoned Max's pants. He had dreamed of doing it, but not like this, this wasn't enjoyable, he didn't want to do this. He slid the pants down and left Max shivering in his boxers. He took Max's hands again and led him down to lie across his lap. Max shifted uncomfortably. Ash put his hands in the sides of Max's boxers and started to pull them down. Max lifted his hips to let the cloth slide down easier.

"Are you ready, Max?"

"No, but I don't think it matters."

Ash lifted his hand in the air and brought it down hard onto Max's bare butt. Max cried out it pain and brought his hand back to rub it, but Ash caught it and brought it up to the small of his back. He smacked Max's other cheek, resulting in another cry. A few more slaps had tears down Max's face again.

"Please, Ash, stop, it hurts." Max said between sobs.

"I'm sorry, Max, it's supposed to hurt, but we're not done yet."

Max in his hands, and Ash continued the spanking. Before it was over, Max was full out crying and Ash wasn't feeling too much better. He pulled Max up and into a hug. Max wrapped his arms around Ash and cried into his shoulder. Ash wasn't sure, but he thought he felt something pressing into his stomach around Max's groin area. Max reached down and pulled up his pants and underwear before hugging Ash again.

"Thanks, Ash. I think I deserved that."

"I think I did too. But I hated doing that, ya know."

The two sat there in silence for a second, Ash looking into his eyes, still glistening from the tears. Before he knew what he was doing, Ash leaned in. He brushed his lips against Max's. He pulled back, and Max was staring at him with a look that he couldn't identify. Ash stood up quickly and ran back into Alizarin. Max reached up and brushed his lips with his fingers, he tried opening his mouth to speak, but he couldn't even talk to himself.

Sorry for the short chapter. But it's been a month and I had to get something out.

Reviews are loved. Flames are accepted. Either way, you read.


	5. Final Chapter

I must, thoroughly, apologize for leaving the one's of you who waited so long on this hanging. And, it's my harrowing honor to deliver the coup dé grace to all of you. The Abboth Challenge is officially discontinued. I, however, am not, and I promise you a new story, one with far more potential than the Abboth Challenge, it was going to get way to lovey anyway. In the years I've been away, my way with words has improved, as has my knowledge of the dark part of the mind that led me to write a few of my stories I'm sure you've read. And it's that part of my mind that is proud to introduce you to:

Journey into Temhora.

Coming soon,

and I assure,

my dears,

I've been worth the wait.

PS: While you're waiting, would you all be dears and check my latest story Did you Bring the Worms? I hate to be that kind of writer, but I'm dying for some feedback.

PPS: I'll also be working on updating Intensity.

-EXTC


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